The American Film Market (AFM) is about to begin, which means movies are being “packaged” for buyers in order to sell international rights and therefore provide the funding to make the films.  This means bringing on bankable actors, which is what the following movies have done:

• Michael Fassbender is in negotiations to star in the gangster film, Trespass Against Us.

• Ethan Hawke will star in Alejandro Amenábar’s drama Regression.

• Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, and Alfred Molina will lead Boychoir.

Hit the jump for more on all of these films.

Am ambitious animated undertaking of one the bestselling inspirational works of all time has landed an impressive voice cast.  Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek, John Krasinski, Frank Langella, Alfred Molina and Quvenzhané Wallis will lend their voices to The Prophet, an adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s collection of writings.  Roger Allers (The Lion King) will write and direct an original narrative story based on Gibran’s work.  The picture is scheduled to be complete by spring of 2014.  Hit the jump for more.

Monsters University will be here soon, and I like what I’m seeing.  I like it so much that I’ve seen enough.  Even though we post plenty of trailers, clips, and featurettes on the site, I don’t watch all of them if I’m already interested in the film.  That stuff is for the people who need more convincing.  So if you’re still unsure about Monsters University, we have seven clips and 13 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage featuring the cast from Pixar’s upcoming prequel recording their lines.

Hit the jump to check out the clips and behind-the-scenes footage.  The film features the voices of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, John Krasinski, Nathan Fillion, Bonnie Hunt, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, Bobby Moynihan, Julie Sweeney, Alfred Molina, Beth Behrs, and of course, John Ratzenberger.  Monsters University opens in 3D on June 21st.

Disney-Pixar has released the final trailer for Monsters University. The prequel shows how Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) became best friends during their time at college. I’ve been a bit wary about the prequel, but this trailer put those doubts to rest. The film looks incredibly funny but also has heart. This goes along with the positive buzz I’ve been hearing, and it looks like Monsters University could be the movie that gets Pixar back on track to the high quality we’ve come to expect from them.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film also features the voices of Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, John Krasinski, Nathan Fillion, Bonnie Hunt, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, Bobby Moynihan, Julie Sweeney, Alfred Molina, Beth Behrs, and of course, John Ratzenberger. Monsters University opens in 3D on June 21st.

Disney has released a new trailer for the Monsters, Inc. prequel Monsters University.  The pic focuses on the college years of Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman), and this new full-length trailer reveals the film’s plot.  The Revenge of the Nerds-esque story finds Mike and Sully joining a fraternity of outcasts, as all of the Greek houses must compete against each other in the Scare Games, which carry dire consequences for the losers.  The film looks like it could be Pixar’s most purely fun movie yet, and early reactions from the screening at CinemaCon had many praising the pic’s heart.  If you missed any of Dave’s coverage from his visit to Pixar, be sure to check out his review from seeing 40 minutes of footage, 35 things to know about the film, and his interview with director Dan Scanlon.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also features the voices of Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, John Krasinski, Nathan Fillion, Bonnie Hunt, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, Bobby Moynihan, Julie Sweeney, Alfred Molina, Beth Behrs, and of course, John Ratzenberger. Monsters University opens June 21, 2013.

Even though Monsters University is only a few months away, Pixar has been keeping the voice cast under wraps.  Today, EW is reporting that Nathan Fillion, John Krasinski, and Bonnie Hunt will be voicing new monsters in the upcoming prequel.  Fillion and Krasinski are newcomers to the Pixar world, but Hunt has been a longtime collaborator with the studio having voiced characters in A Bug’s Life, Cars, Toy Story 3, and Monsters, Inc. (although she’ll be voicing a new character).

Hit the jump for descriptions of Fillion, Krasinski, and Hunt’s characters, along with some new images.  The film also features the voices of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, Bobby Moynihan, Julie Sweeney, Alfred Molina, Beth Behrs, and of course, John Ratzenberger.  Monsters University opens in 3D on June 21st.

Some recent casting news to share, as follows:

• Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) will star as a married couple in Love Is Strange, the new film from director Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On).
• Noomi Rapace (Prometheus) is confirmed to star alongside Tom Hardy in Animal Rescue,  an adaptation of a Dennis Lehane short story to be directed by Michael Roskam (Bullhead).

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival recently announced a couple batches of films that will screen at the Fest in January, and today we’ve got some first images and synopses for a few films that will be playing in competition as part of the U.S. Dramatic lineup.  Briefly

• Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes – Written and directed by Francesca Gregorini, starring Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson, and Aneurin Barnard.
• Fruitvale – Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, and Chad Michael Murray.
• In a World… – Written and directed by Lake Bell, starring Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, and Fred Melamed.
• May in the Summer – Written and directed by Cherien Dabis, starring Dabis, Hiam Abbass, Bill Pullman, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, and Alexander Siddig.

Hit the jump for the images and synopses.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17 – 27.

Let’s start the day with some casting, shall we?  Here are the headlines:

• Elizabeth Banks will topline What’s the Matter with Margie?, a dark comedy from Alan Ball.
• Alfred Molina and Freida Pinto are set to star in Desert Dancer, based on the life of Iranian dancer, Afshin Ghaffarian.
• Sean Bean will join The 4th Reich, an action-horror film set in World War II.

Hit the jump for more on both projects.

Seth Green and his crew behind Robot Chicken have already skewered the Star Wars universe several times over with entire specials dedicated to mocking George Lucas and the classic sci-fi saga. Now the stop-motion animated comedy series has their sights set on DC Comics as Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim will present a Robot Chicken special featuring Seth Green as Batman, Robin and Aquaman, Paul Reubens as The Riddler, Neil Patrick Harris as Two-Face, Alfred Molina as Lex Luthor, Nathan Fillion as the Green Lantern, Megan Fox as Lois Lane, and Breckin Meyer as Superman. More after the jump!

Since it seems like House M.D. might be on the way out, the time is coming for a new medical drama to step up to the plate. Perhaps Alfred Molina will be a good substitute for Hugh Laurie as Deadline reports the Spider-Man 2 star will lead David E. Kelley’s TNT medical drama Chelsea General. The new series is based on Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s forthcoming novel Monday Mornings, a story that follows five surgeons as they push the limits of their abilities and confront their personal and professional failings (sound familiar?) The series takes place during the hospital’s Monday Morbidity and Mortality conference, considered the most secretive meeting in all of medicine, where doctors gather for a confidential review of complications and errors in patient care. More details after the jump.

A number of actors have been added to the cast of Francesca Gregorini’s (Tanner Hall) indie Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes. The film stars Kaya Scodelario (Clash of the Titans) as a troubled 17-year-old named Emanuel who agrees to babysit her new neighbor Linda’s “baby”, though the baby turns out to actually be a life-like doll. “She goes along with the delusion while befriending Linda (Jessica Biel), who happens to be the splitting image of Emanuel’s late mother.” Now Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Frances O’Connor (A.I. Artificial Intelligence), Jimmi Simpson (Date Night), and rising star Aneurin Barnard are set to join the cast. Hit the jump for more.

We have three clips from Taylor Lautner’s upcoming actioner Abduction to bring you today. Directed by John Singleton (Four Brothers), the film centers on Lautner’s character as he attempts to find out why his baby photo is posted on a missing persons website.  Lily Collins, Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver and Jason Isaacs also star in the pic which will act as the first true gauge of Lautner’s solo box office prowess.  Check out the clips after the jump. Abduction opens on September 23rd.

The second trailer for The Lautner Iden—er—Abduction has hit the web. The film pegs Taylor Lautner as an action hero and centers on a young man who’s out to uncover the truth as to why a baby photo of himself wound up on a missing persons website. While the first trailer focused on telling the story, this one plays much more like a fast-cut TV spot that’s very heavy on the action and light on dialogue. I think Lautner only speaks once. The supporting cast is pretty impressive, but I still have trouble taking Lautner seriously as an action star.

Directed by John Singleton, the film stars Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver, Danny Glover, Alfred Molina, Michael Nyqvist, Maria Bello, and Jason Isaacs. Abduction opens on September 23^rd. Hit the jump to watch the trailer.

The first trailer for the action thriller Abduction, starring Taylor Lautner, has been released. Directed by John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood) the thriller centers around a young man who sets out to uncover the truth after finding a baby photo of himself listed on a missing persons website. While Lautner’s acting still seems a bit too ham-fisted to be taken seriously, the supporting cast is fairly impressive and some of the action sequences actually looked pretty cool. I understand Lautner’s desire to move on to bigger and better things post-Twilight, but the guy’s no Tom Cruise.

Abduction stars Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver, Danny Glover, Alfred Molina, Michael Nyqvist, Maria Bello, and Jason Isaacs. The film is set to be released on September 23^rd. Hit the jump to watch the trailer.